Well,
while I can't say that I look forward to the next chemo treatment, I will say
that this round was better than the last one. Tuesday of course sucked, with
the AC being out. However, the AC guy came back on Wednesday and fixed it
(bless his little heart) and we are all back up and running and cool-er (we are
in the midst of a heat warning).
Wednesday's chem took a lot out of me, and while I was able to fight the good fight on Tuesday, Wednesday was mainly get to chemo, get home, eat, sleep. I went to Trader Joe's on Wednesday morning to pick up some of their ginger items (mainly ginger chews, cookies, and candied ginger) to help with the nausea, but after you have been sucking on it for three days, it kind of loses it's appeal, whether it helps or not. The ginger did help, but it didn't take it all away.
Thursday was actually the worst day. Lots of nausea, lots of exhaustion. And, I had an appt with Dr. O, who was very understanding. Thursday was weird - when I took my shower, I had a lot of tingling in my scalp. And, that means - loss of hair. The hair is definitely thinning, and I imagine it will continue to do so as this wears on. (Yes, Sharon, pictures will follow shortly!) For now, it's okay, but it's definitely going to get thinner. Oh well - as long as it means that the chemo is working, right?
What else? More of the neuropathy this week, too. For those of you that aren't aware, neuropathy is a wonderful side effect of chemo that causes tingling, numbness, etc. in your extremities. This could be temporary or permanent, and there really isn't much that can be done about it. Here's hoping it's temporary.
The heartburn wasn't nearly as bad this time out - the last couple of rounds, the heartburn was worse than the nausea. But, I think I have a method of dealing with it, and if not, I have to go see another GI doctor, upper this time. Fun.
I think that's it. The exhaustion kicked my ass this time - I mean, I slept the entire day away yesterday, and finally woke up this morning feeling semi-normal. It was this all-encompassing, complete, no-way-around-it exhaustion that is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. But, the good news is that as long as I am sleeping, I am not nauseous. Wooo!!
Met with Dr O. yesterday, as I think I mentioned earlier. It went well - all of my blood work has come back looking really good, and the tumor markers continue to go down! My red blood cell counts are declining slowly, so I imagine that I will be anemic here before too long. They have an injection that I can get to help with that.
Side note - it seems very odd to me that of all the people to get stuck with this thing, it's me. The one whose Dad had to hold her down to get two shots when she was 18. (Honest - you can ask him.) Now, here I am with a port in my chest, getting poked every two weeks, with lab work every three weeks, PET scans, injections, etc. Really - I don't think a medal of honor would be out of place here. :-)
Anywhoo, Dr. O. thinks that all is well. She encourages me going back to work, though she did warn me against starting anything else. So, no marathons this year. :-( But, I am going to continue to try to market for the Undy 5000, as much as my body allows me.
I think that's about it. I am pretty tired today, but not as much as yesterday. Each day gets a little better - that's what I keep telling myself. And, look at it this way - I AM 1/3 OF THE WAY THROUGH CHEMO!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO ME!!!!!!
And, I get to go back to work on Monday. I can't wait. To those of you there, see you at 9am on Monday morning!!!
Wednesday's chem took a lot out of me, and while I was able to fight the good fight on Tuesday, Wednesday was mainly get to chemo, get home, eat, sleep. I went to Trader Joe's on Wednesday morning to pick up some of their ginger items (mainly ginger chews, cookies, and candied ginger) to help with the nausea, but after you have been sucking on it for three days, it kind of loses it's appeal, whether it helps or not. The ginger did help, but it didn't take it all away.
Thursday was actually the worst day. Lots of nausea, lots of exhaustion. And, I had an appt with Dr. O, who was very understanding. Thursday was weird - when I took my shower, I had a lot of tingling in my scalp. And, that means - loss of hair. The hair is definitely thinning, and I imagine it will continue to do so as this wears on. (Yes, Sharon, pictures will follow shortly!) For now, it's okay, but it's definitely going to get thinner. Oh well - as long as it means that the chemo is working, right?
What else? More of the neuropathy this week, too. For those of you that aren't aware, neuropathy is a wonderful side effect of chemo that causes tingling, numbness, etc. in your extremities. This could be temporary or permanent, and there really isn't much that can be done about it. Here's hoping it's temporary.
The heartburn wasn't nearly as bad this time out - the last couple of rounds, the heartburn was worse than the nausea. But, I think I have a method of dealing with it, and if not, I have to go see another GI doctor, upper this time. Fun.
I think that's it. The exhaustion kicked my ass this time - I mean, I slept the entire day away yesterday, and finally woke up this morning feeling semi-normal. It was this all-encompassing, complete, no-way-around-it exhaustion that is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. But, the good news is that as long as I am sleeping, I am not nauseous. Wooo!!
Met with Dr O. yesterday, as I think I mentioned earlier. It went well - all of my blood work has come back looking really good, and the tumor markers continue to go down! My red blood cell counts are declining slowly, so I imagine that I will be anemic here before too long. They have an injection that I can get to help with that.
Side note - it seems very odd to me that of all the people to get stuck with this thing, it's me. The one whose Dad had to hold her down to get two shots when she was 18. (Honest - you can ask him.) Now, here I am with a port in my chest, getting poked every two weeks, with lab work every three weeks, PET scans, injections, etc. Really - I don't think a medal of honor would be out of place here. :-)
Anywhoo, Dr. O. thinks that all is well. She encourages me going back to work, though she did warn me against starting anything else. So, no marathons this year. :-( But, I am going to continue to try to market for the Undy 5000, as much as my body allows me.
I think that's about it. I am pretty tired today, but not as much as yesterday. Each day gets a little better - that's what I keep telling myself. And, look at it this way - I AM 1/3 OF THE WAY THROUGH CHEMO!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO ME!!!!!!
And, I get to go back to work on Monday. I can't wait. To those of you there, see you at 9am on Monday morning!!!
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